Incoming National Assembly Leadership: The Way Forward for Ndigbo

INCOMING NATIONAL ASSEMBLY LEADERSHIP: THE WAY FORWARD FOR NDIGBO

              

One of my childhood friends, as well as my university mate, Engr. Chuka Esonini resident in Holland, called penultimate week to congratulate me personally as a staunch member of the civil society, for the recent peaceful and successful political history recorded in the Nigerian polity. ‘Chukas’ as he’s fondly called is a vibrant young man who strongly believes in appreciation; those days on campus, precisely Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), both of us were into school activism. He thought it wise to congratulate/salute my humble self because he was of the view that I and many others who are into this crusade contributed immensely towards the sensitization of the electorates and the citizenry at large on the need to accept the results of the said polls in good faith or with a spirit of sportsmanship.

        

In response to the aforementioned commendation registered by my old time buddy and fellow technologist, I told him unequivocally that the peaceful outcome of the Presidential polls was owing to God’s timely intervention, and not by the making of any individual or statesman as being presumed or circulated in some quarters. On the long run after exchange of series of ideas and experiences, he saw reason with my perspective thereby at a juncture he willingly concurred with my person.

         

Thank God the long awaited Presidential cum National Assembly elections have successfully came and gone. Presently, Nigeria in her entirety is looking forward to witnessing a totally different political transition and dispensation since her birth. No doubt, Friday May 29, 2015 shall usher us into a dawn of a completely new era as far as Nigerian democracy is concerned.

         

As millions of Nigerians are presently filled with anxiety coupled with high level of curiosity in regard to the forthcoming democratic dispensation, on the contrary several others are preoccupied with challenging political talks as well as tussle. In view of the latter, the incoming legislators of both the upper and lower Chambers of the National Assembly are not left out.

         

Of course, it is only a dummy that is yet to acknowledge the fact that as soon as Chief Mohammadu Buhari is being sworn in or assumes duty, what next would be the leadership of the National Assembly, as stipulated or mandated by the Nigerian constitution. Please pardon me; I prefer to go by “Chief” rather than “General” in order to free the entire Nigerians from biased mindset. On this note, I humbly suggest to the President-Elect to urge the media and Nigerians in general to stop addressing him as a “General” since he is now a full-fledged ‘converted’ democrat. Sorry for the digression anyway. Let’s ride on!

         

Like I was saying prior to the break in transmission; after May 29, Nigerians would be discussing the legislators that will lead the Senate as well as the Federal House of Representatives as the Senate President and the Speaker respectively. As it stands, the Igbos or the members of the South-Eastern geopolitical zone are of the view that the leadership of the apex legislature is their prerogative.

          

Before I air my view, let’s briefly go back to history. During the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration which commenced in 1999, the South-West having occupied the Presidency position, which is the “number one” position in the country, and the North being in the position of Vice-Presidency, a South-Eastern legislator in the person of Late Senator Evan Enwerem was unanimously elected by the members of the Senate as the Senate President in order to balance the equation. Subsequently, the Late Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’dua became the President of the Federal Republic in 2007, and the South-South had their share in the position of the Vice-Presidency thereby making the North-Central to stand in as the Senate President in the person of Senator David Mark.

         

And finally as fate would have it, in 2011 the South-South in the person of Dr Goodluck Jonathan emerged as the President and he is currently deputized by a Northerner. At the commencement of the ongoing dispensation ably led by Dr Jonathan, the position of the Senate Presidency, by virtue, was due for either the South-West or South-East, but unfortunately as a result of some political mechanisms, the North still occupied the said position leaving the South-West empty-handed and compensating the South-East with the position of the deputy leadership of the Senate; a mechanism that made Sen. David Mark to make a history as the first Nigerian to serve as a Senate President for two consecutive terms.

          

Due to the anomaly, the leaders of the South-Western region cried foul, claiming that they were treated unfairly; a scenario that almost constituted a chaos. Let’s not delve into the detail of what prompted the foul play. Though afterwards, the South-West appeared to have been compensated by having the privilege to serve in other positions of high hierarchy; meanwhile, we’re all aware that it won’t function exactly like analgesic if it is an adulterated one.

         

Going by the current look of things, it is obvious that by equity sake, it is the prerogative of the Igbos to occupy the position of the Senate Presidency as regards the incoming transition. But pathetically, there is a major political loophole that might make the South-East to lose the said leadership bid.

         

Considering the just concluded National Assembly election, it occurred that virtually all the positions of the National Assembly in the South-East were won by the opposition, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). Few of the contestants who emerged victorious under the aegis of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are not legitimately qualified to lead any of the Chambers of the National Assembly; courtesy demands that any law maker to be elected as either the Senate President or the Speaker must had served for at least a term in the Senate or the House of Reps as the case may be. And by political tradition, it is far-fetched for a member of any opposition party to be at the helm of affairs in the National Assembly; besides, PDP would constitute the minority come the 8^th Senate. Therefore, having APC in the position of the Presidency, courtesy demands that, in order to sustain a stable political system, APC ought to lead both the upper and lower Chambers of the legislative arm.

         

However, to ensure that Ndigbo wouldn’t forfeit the anticipated position, there is only one way out and must be considered imperatively and seriously. The totality of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-East is expected, as a matter of urgency, to look beyond their respective individual interests and adopt someone or better still a trusted and eligible person among the incoming legislators in the opposition party - the PDP. For this vision to be actualized, the persons involved must place the interest of Ndigbo at large ahead of their personal interest.

        

To this end, the political leaders in South-East under the auspices of Ohaneze Ndigbo should rally round and discuss collectively as one united and indisputable family with the sole aim of adopting a worthy son of Igbo extraction that will represent the zone irrespective of his political affiliation.

        

Suffice to say; this critical and sensitive circumstance can only be unraveled by embracing consensus. In other words, Ndigbo as a family ought to reach a consensus now or never. They shouldn’t allow mere sentiments to becloud their sense of logic. Think about it!

 

COMR FDN NWAOZOR

(The Media Ambassador)
_____________________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056

 

         

World Book and Copyright Day (Aired News-Commentary)

TACKLING PLAGIARISM IN NIGERIA AS THE WORLD BOOK AND COPYRIGHT DAY IS MARKED TODAY, THURSDAY APRIL 23, 2015

        

       

Today Thursday April 23, the world over is commemorating the World Book and Copyright Day. It was on this day – April 23 in the year 1616 that some prominent authors including Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Inca Garcilaso Vega left the world; it is also the date of birth or death of other global literary icons like Maurice Druon, Haldor K. Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejia Vallejo.  

        

It was a natural choice for the General Conference of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held in Paris in 1995, to pay a worldwide tribute to books and authors on this date in order to encourage everyone, particularly young people, to discover the pleasure of reading as well as gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity. In this regard, UNESCO created the World Book and Copyright Day.

          

A book is a collection of pieces of paper comprising a set of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets made of ink, parchment and other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. In the same vein, copyright can be defined as the legal prerogative of ownership and exclusive distribution of any creative work such as article, book, music or movie originally done by a person or a group of persons.

        

On the other hand, plagiarism is the illicit practice of using or copying someone else’s idea or creative work and the impersonation of its ownership. In other words, plagiarism is an unauthorized and unlawful faking or imitation of thoughts or works that are already legally credited to a person or group. Suffice to say; plagiarism, which is popularly known as piracy, is a criminal act that is punishable by law.

         

A text-filled book, which could be either in a printed or electronic format, is often a product of creativity. In some cases where it has to do with poetry, prose or drama, it is referred to as work of literature or a main division of such work. In Library and Information Science, a book is called a monograph to distinguish it from serial periodicals to include magazines, journals or newspapers.

         

A book could be majorly classified into two namely, academic and literary. An academic book is one that is written on a certain subject or about a particular area whilst a literary book is mainly a creative work that is written with the knowledge of literature. Irrespective of its class, just as anything under the sun can be identified by one or two idiosyncrasies, the unique or basic features of any book include the content, authorship, the ISBN, its title and cover page, among others.

         

No doubt, every book has a unique content regardless of its size or number of pages. Likewise a movie or music, a book may go beyond a particular edition or version, hence can transcend to additional two or more editions based on the choice of the author or the kind of message intended to be conveyed by it. The content of any book is expected to be original; in the sense that, it must be the initiative of the acclaimed author/writer.

         

Also, any book must be authored by one or two persons and as long as the book lasts, the specified author(s) remain the rightful owner of the intellectual property. Needless to say; no part of such publication would be reproduced or translated to any other language, or even transmitted in any form or by any means without the authorization or written permission of the author or publisher as the case might be.

         

The International Serial Book Number (ISBN) is another unique feature or mode of identification of any book. The ISBN of a published compilation, which is widely regarded as its individual identification number, is the only globally recognized means of identifying a text-filled book. Thus, any published book is entitled to a certain ISBN which will never be allocated or assigned to any other publication across the globe. Even if the book in question is expected to have a subsequent edition/version in future, each of the additional editions, when published, would be entitled to different ISBNs.

          

Furthermore, the title and the cover page of a book speak volume as regards its identification; though in some cases, not unlike in the movie or music sector, two books authored by different writers might comprised of the same or similar title. In a situation of coincidence of titles or where two/more publications of different authors comprise the same title, the books involved would be contrasted by the names of the respective authors.  Apart from other features of a book, it is noteworthy that, its title and cover page are the major recipes that attract the target audience, especially in a situation where the name of the author is relatively new in the system. This is the reason most notable authors pay much attention while creating a title for their works. Due to the significance or delicacy attached to titling of a book or any creative work, sometimes the title of a work in progress may be yet to be created by the author/inventor until the work is duly completed.

         

Taking a painstaking consideration of the aforementioned features of a book, there is no gain reiterating the fact that book publication is all about creativity. Surely, it is obvious that every aspect of book compilation coupled with its publication cum printing thoroughly deals with originality which is the basic element of any creative work.

         

Apparently, the societal impact of a book cannot be overemphasized. It is through a book that a literate society is formed; it is through a book that an awaited civilized society is actualized; through a book, an intellectual group can be created; of course through a book, the socio-economic level of a nation can be uplifted or boasted; it is through a book that a nation can actualized its utmost desire; and  it is through a book that a leader can be made; above all, it is a book that can guarantee optimum peace and unity in any society.

          

This is why those who are widely read such as the likes of late Marcus Tullius Cicero and Jane Austen would always tell you that “A room without books is like a body without a soul.” Or that “A person, be it gentleman or lady, who has no pleasure in a good novel must be intolerably stupid.” It was the late Jorge Luis Borges that said “I have always imagined that paradise would be a kind of library.” In the same vein, Lemony Snicket stated “Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.”

         

Considering the indelible role of a book in any society, there is need to fiercely safeguard the copyright of a book or any other creative work such as music or movie. Against this backdrop, as the world commemorates the World Book and Copyright Day, I enjoin every group in Nigeria concerning authorship such as the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Nigerian Literacy Society (NLS), and many others to join in the crusade towards the complete eradication of plagiarism.

          

The production of fake works which is on rampage in Nigeria is solely attributed to the ongoing alarming pace of plagiarism. It is longer news that plagiarism has indeed endangered the lives of thousands of creative persons across the globe thereby constituting apathy among prospective writers or artistes as the case may be. This singular fact is the reason many incoming/potential creative individuals have chosen to remain idle rather than embarking on a venture that would end-up being worthless.   

         

ANA and other indigenous authorship associations is expected to form a synergy with other related societies such as the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN) and the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) in order to fight the scourge squarely and with a dogged approach. In view of this, the concerned groups ought to urge the legislators to enact a strict law that would assign capital punishment to anyone found guilty of any form of piracy by any court of competent jurisdiction.

          

Among all, no one is meant to sit on the fence towards the elimination of this cankerworm that constitutes colossal individual and national economic menace. On the other hand and most importantly, the parents, guardians, counsellors, various teachers at all levels, and what have you, must take the act of imparting and uplifting reading culture among our young ones very seriously. In addition, reading should be regarded by all and sundry as the only practice that can guarantee absolute literacy as well as intellectual ability. And we can’t afford to be left behind regarding the said qualities. Think about it!

 

COMR FRED DOC NWAOZOR

(The Media Ambassador)
_____________________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056

 

World Malaria Day (Aired News Commentary)

PROMOTING AWARENESS ON ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION AS THE 2015 WORLD MALARIA DAY IS COMMEMORATED TODAY, SATURDAY APRIL 25

        

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by a group of single-celled parasitic micro-organisms known as protozoa belonging to the genus plasmodium. The disease is mainly transmitted by mosquito bites, and the symptoms often commence few days after the bite.

          

Malaria is transmitted most commonly by an infected female Anopheles mosquito. The mosquito bite introduces the parasite called plasmodium from the mosquito’s saliva into a person’s bloodstream. The parasites then travel to the liver where they mature and reproduce.

         

The signs and symptoms of malaria typically begin eight to twenty-five days following infection; however, symptoms may occur later in those who have taken anti-malarial medications in the past as prevention. Initial manifestations of the disease, which is common to all malaria species, are similar to flu-like symptoms and can resemble other conditions such as septicemia, gastroenteritis and viral diseases.

          

The presentation may include headache, fever, shivering, joint pain, vomiting, haemolytic anaemia, jaundice, haemoglobin in the urine, retinal damage, and convulsions. The classic symptom of malaria is paroxysm – a cyclical occurrence of sudden coldness followed by shivering and then fever and sweating; occurring every two days in P. Vivax and P. Malariae infection.

           

Severe malaria, which might lead to death, is usually caused by P. Falciparum – often referred to as ‘Falciparum Malaria’. Its symptoms arise nine to thirty days after contracting the infection. Individuals with cerebral malaria frequently exhibit neurological symptoms including abnormal posturing, nystagmus, conjugate gaze palsy i.e. failure of the eyes to turn together in the same direction, opisthotonus, seizure, or coma.

          

There are several serious complications of malaria. Among these is the development of respiratory distress, which occurs in up to twenty-five percent (25%) of adults and forty percent (40%) of children with severe P. Falciparum malaria. Possible causes include respiratory compensation of metabolic acidosis, non-cardiogenic pulmonary oedema, concomitant pneumonia and severe anaemia. It is worthy to note that, concurrent infection of HIV with malaria increases mortality rate. Malaria in pregnant women is the major cause of stillbirths, infant mortality, abortion and low birth weight, particularly in P. Falciparum infection.

         

Symptoms of malaria can recur after varying symptom-free periods.  Depending upon the cause, recurrence can be classified as either recrudescence or relapse. Recrudescence is when symptoms return after a symptom-free period; it is caused by parasites living in the blood as a result of inadequate or ineffective treatment. Whilst, relapse is when symptoms reappear after the parasites have been eliminated from blood but persist as dormant hyponozoites in liver cells; relapse commonly occurs between eight to twenty-four weeks and is common among P. Vivax and P. Ovale infections.

           

Malaria infection develops via two major phases namely, one involving the liver known as exoerythrocytic phase, and one that involves the red blood cells referred to as erythrocytic phase. When an infected mosquito pierces a person’s skin to take a blood meal, sporozoites in the mosquito’s saliva enter the bloodstream and migrate to the liver where they infect hepatocytes, multiplying asexually and asymptomatically for a period of eight to thirty days. After a potential dormant period in the liver, these organisms differentiate to yield thousands of merozoites, which following rupture of their host cells, escape into the blood and infect the red blood cells to begin the erythrocytic stage of their life cycle.

            

The primary sources of mosquitoes include sewage, refuse, dirty stagnant water, and untidy environment. In most cases, mosquitoes are peculiar to damp and dirty environments or substances such as gutter, pool, faeces, urine, among other solid and liquid waste materials. This is why residents of untidy localities are at a high risk of contracting malaria.    

           

Methods used to prevent malaria include medications, mosquito elimination through fumigation coupled with regular environmental sanitation, as well as prevention of mosquito bites via regular cum proper use of the mosquito nets, among others. Prevention of malaria, which is yet to have a vaccine, may be more cost-effective than treatment of the disease in the long run; though the initial costs required are out of reach of many of the world’s poorest people.

           

Owing to the non-specific nature of presentation of symptoms, diagnosis of malaria in non-endemic areas requires a high degree of suspicion. Malaria is invariably confirmed by the microscopic examination of blood films or by antigen-based Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT). Microscopy is the most commonly used method to detect the malaria parasite in the body. In spite of its widespread usage, diagnosis by microscopy suffers from two main drawbacks: many settings especially rural are not equipped to perform the test, and the accuracy of the results depends on both the skill of the lab technician and the levels of the parasite in the blood.

            

Malaria is widely treated with anti-malarial medications; the ones to be used solely depend on the type and severity of the disease. While medications against fever are commonly used, their effects on outcomes are not clear. Uncomplicated malaria may be treated with oral medications; the most effective treatment for P. Falciparum infection is the use of artemisinins in combination with other anti-malarial drugs known as Artemisinin-Combination Therapy (ACT), which decreases resistance to any single drug component.

          

It is obvious that malaria is a killer disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in 2010, there were about two hundred and ninety (219) million cases of malaria outbreak resulting to six hundred and sixty thousand (660,000) deaths. The majority of cases, about sixty-five percent (65%), occur in children under fifteen years. Survey also indicates that about one hundred and twenty-five (125) million pregnant women are at risk of infection each year; in Sub-Saharan Africa such as Nigeria, Angola, Chad, Congo, Benin, Ghana and several others, maternal malaria is associated with up to two hundred thousand (200,000) estimated infant deaths yearly. In a nutshell; globally, about 3.3 billion individuals in 106 countries are at risk of malaria, mostly among African children.

         

Due to the widespread of malaria infection and its deadly consequence, the World Health Organization thought it wise to proclaim World Malaria Day. In view of this, in May 2007 during the sixtieth (60^th) session of the World Health Assembly, April 25 of every year was unanimously adopted as the World Malaria Day. Needless to say; today the world over is commemorating the World Malaria Day. The day was established to provide education and thorough understanding of malaria disease across the globe, especially in countries where the disease seems to be endemic.

          

As the annual World Malaria Day is being commemorated, I urge every individual in Nigeria regardless of age or status, to be extremely conscious of the outlook of his/her surroundings or immediate environment since malaria is mainly attributed to unhealthy vicinity. Thus, we should always endeavour to properly dispose any form of waste found within our place of residence as well as thoroughly sanitize our gutters and toilets at all times. In addition, we ought to ensure that our beds are always covered with treated mosquito net whenever we lie in it.

           

Among all, we should endeavour to see our physician from time-to-time or whenever we notice any abnormality in our body system, for onward review of our health status. In the same vein, the various health workers/personnel across the country are expected to contribute meaningfully and immensely in creation of awareness regarding the causes and possible effects of malaria disease as well as its epidemic. Above all, we ought to always bear in mind that prevention is invariably better than cure. Think about it!

COMR FRED DOC NWAOZOR

(The Media Ambassador)

_____________________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

+2348028608056